F. Lester Ray, known as Fred, had
ambitions to build his own racing car. By late 1970 he
had accumulated enough money, and asked his friend Derek
Matthews of Ark Racing to design a 2-seater Group 6
sports car.

In order to save time it was
decided that the car would be built around a basic
tubular chassis that had been produced by Arch Motors
from jigs that were used to build a chassis for the
Graphics Racing Organisation for Prototype Automobiles.

Construction began early in 1971.
Derek and Fred set to work on the basic chassis frame
and cladded the centre section with aluminium to produce
a semi-monocoque. Derek designed and built the front
suspension, and used Girling castings and disc blanks to
produce the brakes.

Initially the car was powered by an
ex-F3 Cosworth MAE engine, built by Felday Engineering.
It developed around 120b.h.p. A 7¼ inch AP twin plate
clutch, and a Hewland FT200 5-speed gearbox were fitted,
along with 2 Serck copper cored radiators (one on each
side), a 100 litre fuel tank, Revolution wheels, and
Dunlop CR 65 tyres. Derek and Frank built the
distinctive wedge-shaped body.

The car in action. Courtesy of David Beere.

The car’s first outing was a test
run at Silverstone. Derek did the first few laps and was
followed by Paul Chambers who had supplied the engine.
Paul was a championship winning superkart racer.

Paul went on to drive the car at
its first two race meetings. It was initially called the
DM6, which was short for Derek Mathews’ 6th car. The car
made its race debut at Oulton Park on 16th October, 1971
in a 10 lap GT race. Paul made the fastest practice lap,
and the car finished in 5th place. Its next outing took
place on the following day at Thruxton. Paul again made
the fastest practice lap, and finished in 8th place.

Lack of money held-up further
development of the car until 1974 when a 2,000c.c. Ford
Cosworth BDG engine with Lucas fuel injection was
fitted. Fred now decided to call the car the ‘Vogue’.

The 'Vogue'. Courtesy of David Beere.

The following year a deal was made
between Richard Jenvey, the Bridgnorth Modsports Lotus
Elan driver and Fred. Richard Jenvey would drive the
car, and Derek Mathews would continue to prepare the car
for future race meetings, the details of which are in
the tables below. A few modifications followed including
a slight change to the shape of the body, which had been
providing too much down force at the front.

At speed. Courtesy of David Beere.

Things went well for a time, but
lack of funds meant that persistent engine problems
could not be properly dealt with. Derek had to resort to
refurbishing old parts that were well passed their sell
by date.

On the 15th August, 1976
the car was taken to compete in a sports car race at
Zoller in Belgium. An 1850c.c. BDA engine was hired for
the event, thanks to financial support from Arthur Hough
& Sons. The car performed extremely well thanks to the
reliable engine, and finished in first place.

The car, outside Arthur Hough &
Sons at Essington, possibly after its win at Zoller.
Courtesy of David Beere.

When the car returned to Willenhall
the original engine was rebuilt, but after a few
promising runs the old problems resurfaced. Fred’s
engine was never properly sorted out due to a constant
lack of funds. The cost of continuous engine rebuilds
and the lack of testing meant that the car never reached
its full racing potential.

In 1977 Fred and Richard Jenvey
decided that with a small budget available, they would
look after the car themselves, leaving Derek Matthews
free to move on to his successful association with Max
Payne.

More Results. Entrant:
David Mercer. Preparation: David Mercer and Fred Ray.